In a letter to Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, Cochise County Supervisors said that will “follow all applicable requirements in statutes.”
“The Board wishes to follow all applicable requirements in statutes and the Elections Procedure Manual when conducting its expanded precinct hand count audit,” Cochise County Supervisors Peggy Judd and Tom Crosby wrote in the letter.
The third supervisor, Democrat Ann English, voted against a full hand count and did not sign.
This means there will be a partial, not full, hand count, the letter said.
Hobbs and State Elections Director Kori Lorick held an emergency meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss the matter.
Under Arizona law, counties hand count ballots from a percentage of voting locations to ensure initial results are accurate, Hobbs said in a tweet with a copy of the letter.
“Cochise County clarified that they voted to expand this audit and will not attempt an unlawful hand count of every race on every ballot,” she said.
Hobbs added that county officials committed to certify their election results on time and said her officer will stay in contact with Cochise County “to ensure the process complies with the law.”
This comes after the board voter 2-1 Monday to approve a “100 percent county wide hand count audit” of the midterm election votes after an hours-long meeting of more than 100 people.
The largely Republican county was under pressure to allow a hand count from voters who believes false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Lorick’s office wrote to the county to warn them against a full hand count. The office said a full hand count is not only illegal but would have “undermined the orderly administration of this election, raised serious security and ballot chain of custody concerns, causes voter confusion in the middle of early voting and threaten the county’s ability to timely canvass the election as required by law.”
Earlier this month, the FBI issued a news release saying its agents “continue to prioritize” threats made against election workers, which the bureau said includes staff members within a secretary of state’s office, state or county board of election officials, polling station volunteers and people who count or move ballots. The FBI said threats targeting these workers can include those made by phone, email, social media and in person.
“Regardless of the manner in which the threat or harassment is conveyed, the FBI takes all threats of violence targeting election workers seriously,” the bureau’s release said.
In July 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) created a task force for law enforcement officials to identify, charge and prosecute individuals who threaten election workers, following an uptick in reported threats since the 2020 election. Officials with the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were tapped to contribute to the task force, as were people with three DOJ divisions.
On Wednesday, the DOJ issued a news release outlining some of the ways in which it said federal officials are working to support fair elections. The release included instructions for Americans who suspect threats of violence or intimidation at a polling place to contact their local authorities.
Earlier this month, the DOJ announced the arrest of a man who allegedly threatened an election official and Arizona’s attorney general in late 2021. Another individual was also sentenced in early October for threats targeting an election worker that were made on social media, according to the DOJ.
Shortly after the study was issued months ago, several officers expressed discontent that it failed to address allegations of politics influencing intelligence that arose in the 2020 election and that remain unresolved for some today.
The study was reissued in September and remains classified. People familiar with the matter told the Associated Press that the study included recommendations on how intelligence leaders could best examine and report election threats attributed to Russia, China and other American adversaries.
The withdrawal of the study is unusual, demonstrating the ongoing issues within the federal government over how to address foreign threats the U.S. elections.
Some former intelligence officers told AP that the polarizing tensions about election security have bled into the supposedly apolitical intelligence community.
While some officers accuse intelligence leaders of downplaying the 2020 findings on Russia to appease Donald Trump, other believe election-related intelligence on China was wrongly played down because of a fear politicians would misuse it.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the 18 U.S. spy agencies, requested the study. When it was republished, it have a “scope note” explaining the study was focused on senior leaders and not intended to delve into the politicization of intelligence or other potential election issues.
Tim Barrett, the top spokesman for Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, said intelligence officials expanded training on objectivity in analysis and worked to better collaborate across agencies.
“We are committed to impartial and inclusive analysis and will continue to provide the insights needed to safeguard our democracy,” Barrett said in a statement.
This plan will “create good-paying jobs and help ensure the future is made in America,” according to the White House.
With less than two weeks before the midterm elections, Biden continues to speak to voters on his administration’s key policies on abortion and economic relief and recovery plans.
During remarks on his plan to combat “junk fees” Wednesday, Biden said the nation’s economy is “in a stronger position today than any other country in the world.”
He said jobs are up, people are back to work and “American manufacturing is roaring back.”
Biden also noted that Micron’s $100 billion investment manufacturing computer chips will “put tens of thousands of Americans to work.”
The remarks in Syracuse, NY are set to begin at 3:30 p.m. ET. They will stream live on the White House website or watch live below:
The hand count, which the ACLU of Nevada is fighting, was inspired by conspiracy theories surrounding the dependability of voting machines, according to the Associated Press. These conspiracy theories are rooted in the events surrounding the 2020 presidential election, during which former President Donald Trump and his election lawyers alleged voting machines were contributing to election fraud. Federal officials have said there is no proof of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
On the first day of the hand count, a few dozen election workers tallied about 900 of the nearly 2,000 early ballots that have thus far been returned in Nye County, AP reported.
Court documents shared online by local reporters showed that the ACLU of Nevada filed an emergency motion on Thursday asking the Nevada Supreme Court to assess whether Nye County election officials are violating an earlier order on how the vote tallying process must be run. In its motion, the ACLU alleged that election workers “read aloud the content of ballots within hearing distance of public observers,” which the organization suggested is a violation of a court order issued last week.
ACLU of Nevada Executive Director Athar Haseebullah said Wednesday on Twitter that he and others with the organization watched the first day of the hand count in person. He described it as “a disaster of a process.”
Haseebullah said he and his colleagues were instructed to sign a document promising they would not “record or intentionally try to remember the election results we heard.” He said the rooms in which votes are counted by hand had a “varying amount of people tallying.”
“After hearing ballots read aloud followed by ‘wait can you repeat that’ I saw my [ACLU NV] comms associate escorted out of a room by a gun carrying, oath affirming volunteer who accused her of ’tallying’ and demanding she show her notepad,” he wrote. “Just nuts. No ma’am. Not today.”
Haseebullah also shared a photo of notes taken by one of his colleagues. “Notable concern: talliers getting lost and starting over and inconsistencies in results,” he said.
Haseebullah’s Twitter thread concluded by saying the hand count process is “sloppy” and “all over the place.”
“Our team is assessing for compliance with the Nevada Supreme Court’s order,” he wrote.
During the South Carolina governor’s debate between McMaster and Democrat Joe Cunningham, the candidates sparred over several key topics, including same-sex marriage.
The overturning of Roe v. Wade opened the door for states to issue their own abortion bans. Following that move, some fear the Supreme Court may overturn federal protection of gay marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges.
South Carolina’s constitution has a ban on same-sex marriage. The law states “a marriage between one man and one woman is the only lawful domestic union that shall be valid or recognized in this State.”
The moderator in the first and only debate before the Nov. 8 election asked each candidates’ stance on the future same-sex marriage in state if Obergefell is overturned.
McMaster said he would uphold the state law that prohibits gay marriage.
“Gay marriage in our constitution it is not allowed, and under our state law it is not allowed,” he said. “I would follow state law whatever the state law is.”
The governor then noted that he personally does not support same-sex unions.
“Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I think marriage ought to be between a man and a woman,” he said.
Cunningham, a former U.S. Congressman, blasted McMaster for his outdated ideas.
“Wow… it’s 2022 and Governor McMaster wants to ban same-sex marriage,” he said. “You just heard that tonight, folks.”
“I don’t care who you are or who you love, I don’t think its government’s role to be getting in the middle of that,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham also noted McMaster’s long political career, saying the governor “has been a politician longer than I have been alive” and has led the state into the 1950s since the 1980s.
Upon rebuttal, McMaster said he doesn’t care “who you love or you don’t love or who you want to live with.”
“That’s your business,” he said. “I think marriage is a special institution and that designation ought to be reserved for a man and a woman.”
A Washington state judge issued the maximum fine of $24.66 million on Meta Wednesday for 822 violations of Washington’s Fair Campaign Practices Act, according to court documents.
The state law requires ad sellers like Meta publicly disclose the names and addresses of those who buy political ads, the targets of those ads, how the ads were paid for and the total number of views on each ad.
Meta has reportedly objected to the requirements repeatedly, arguing that the law is unconstitutional because it “unduly burdens political speech” and is “virtually impossible to fully comply with.”
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson argued that the court should deliver the maximum fine. His office sued Meta for violating the transparency law in 2018 for a total of $200,000.
“I have one word for Facebook’s conduct in this case — arrogance,” Ferguson said in a statement. “It intentionally disregarded Washington’s election transparency laws. But that wasn’t enough. Facebook argued in court that those laws should be declared unconstitutional. That’s breathtaking. Where’s the corporate responsibility?”
Ferguson urges Facebook to “accept responsibility, apologize for its conduct, and comply with the law.” If the company refuses, he promises to “beat them again in court.”
In addition to the fine, Meta was ordered to “come into full compliance” with the state’s election transparency laws within the next 30 days. The court also demanded that an authorized person from Meta file a sworn certificate in 30 days stating that Meta followed the injunction.
Pollsters said in a Thursday news release that the Harvard Youth Poll’s results suggest young voter turnout this year could meet or exceed the record-setting number of young voters who cast ballots during the 2018 midterms. Turnout for voters under 30 increased from 20 percent during the 2014 midterms to 36 percent in 2018, according to government data.
“Our new poll shows that those historic midterm numbers were not a fluke: Gen Z is a formidable voting bloc that demands to be heard,” IOP Interim Director Setti Warren said in the release. Warren added that young voters across several demographics “view the world from a starkly different lens than older generations” and that politicians “should pay attention.”
The poll found that voters ages 18 to 29 “prefer Democratic control of Congress 57% to 31%,” a 5-point uptick for Democrats from earlier this year, but also found that 12 percent of young voters are still undecided about which candidates they will support.
Among young Republican voters, 40 percent identified inflation as “the most important issue” inspiring their votes this year. Young Democrats cited abortion, protecting democracy and inflation as almost equally important issues for them this year, with climate change a few points behind at 16 percent.
Nearly three-quarters of respondents—72 percent—also told pollsters they think “the rights of others are under attack, and 59% believe that their own rights are under attack,” according to the release.
In the statement, Medvedev suggested U.S. support for Ukraine is motivated by Democrat and Republican ambition to gain seats in the U.S. Congress during the November 8 midterms.
Medvedev’s statement began by asking how each party will “pay for their victory” or “explain their defeat.”
“The only currency for the Biden team and its Republican rivals is the lives they don’t care about in a mythical country, Ukraine,” Medvedev’s statement said. He then referred to Ukraine as “small change in a big American gamble” and said Ukraine is being “sacrificed in the name of a potential victory in the political battles waged across the ocean.”
The U.S. has invested billions of dollars in military assistance for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in late February. Medvedev said the weapons America has provided over the course of the war “are paid for with Ukrainians’ lives.”
Medvedev said the Russian people are also suffering but that “their deaths will be avenged, every one of them and anywhere – on the battlefield and in other places far removed from the battlefield.”
“There will be no unviable court trials,” he wrote. “Other methods will be used. But no one will weep for the Ukrainians.”
Medvedev’s statement concluded by saying the “main thing” for America is “who will control the House and the Senate.”
“That’s why they want a war to the bitter end. Or more precisely to the end of Ukraine,” he said. “And, as usual, the winner takes it all…”
This comes as a second woman alleges Walker pressured her to get an abortion when she became pregnant with his child during an affair decades ago. Herschel, who claims to be pro-life, has denied this allegation, calling it “foolishness.”
In a FOX interview Thursday, Walker denied these claims again, calling the allegations a lie.
“Raphael Warnock and the left will do whatever they can to win this seat back,” he said. “But I don’t think think they realize that they messed with the wrong Georgian.”
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz is the latest senator to campaign with Walker, following appearances from Florida’s Rick Scott and Arkansas’ Tom Cotton.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has been an strong ally for Walker. Graham campaigned with Walker in Georgia Wednesday, as well as joining him on Fox News to talk about the key race.
When the story broke Wednesday, Graham said he’s “seen this movie before,” drawing parallels between the new accusations against Walker and the allegations made about Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
“Here’s the game plan Herschel: Get a celebrity lawyer, like [Michael] Avenatti who is now in jail, get a celebrity lawyer to come out and make a wild accusation right before it’s time to make a decision about who should be on the Supreme Court, or who should be in the Senate,” Graham said, adding that voters wouldn’t tolerate the claims and that there would be “a backlash in Georgia.”
During an interview with Sean Hannity Wednesday night, Graham said the success of Walker’s campaign destroys Democrats’ narrative that the GOP is racists.
“They’re beating all of our guys up, but what is it about this guy? He changes the entire narrative of the left,” Graham said. “We’re a party of racists, Sean. Me and you are racists, the Republican Party is racist. Well what happens when the Republican party elects and nominates Herschel Walker, an African American, black Heisman Trophy winner, right? Olympian. It destroys the whole narrative.”
At a rally Thursday, Graham mentioned the latest allegations levied against Walker, saying the “stuff they are throwing at you from L.A. with 13 days before an election, all you’ve got going for you is the people of Georgia,” according to pool reporters.
He also said Democrats are “afraid” of Walker.
“They’re afraid of Herschel Walker because if Herschel Walker wins that means we’re not racist,” he said.
At the same event, Walker told supporters he is not a politician.
“I’m not a politician, I don’t look like one, talk like one or act like one because I’m a warrior for god,” he said, according to CBS News’ Elizabeth Campbell.
“They came for me today, they’re coming for you tomorrow,” he added. “They can’t take me down because I am a bad man.”
Despite the latest allegations against Walker, the Senate race in Georgia remains tight.
A new Monmouth University survey, published on Wednesday, shows that 49 percent of potential voters said they would definitely or probably back incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock in the election, compared to 44 percent who said the same thing about Walker.
These figures also include those in Georgia who have already cast their ballot in the Senate election via early voting, representing about 25 percent of potential voters.
According to a new Rasmussen Poll, Walker leads Warnock 48 to 43 percent, with a 14-percentage point lead among Independents.
The poll was conducted among 3,000 U.S. adults from October 14 to 21, just days after Biden issued his pardon proclamation.
Among respondents under 30-years-old, 40 percent said the pardons had “no effect” on which political party they want to support. The same percentage said the decision made them more eager to support Democrats, while 20 percent of respondents said it made them want to vote for Republican candidates more. The responses were similar for voters ages 30 to 44, with 43 percent saying the pardons had “no effect” on their voting preferences.
Pollsters reported similar responses when they polled on Biden’s announcement that his administration will cancel some student loan debt for qualifying borrowers who make $125,000 per year or less. On this issue, 42 percent of respondents under 30 said the announcement had “no effect” on whether they want to support Democrats or Republicans, compared with 46 percent of voters ages 30 to 44.
Across the U.S., an estimated 14,181,710 early votes have been cast for the 2022 midterm elections, according to the University of Florida’s U.S. Elections Project. Of those, more than 4.8 million voted-in person and about 9.3 million voted by mail-in ballot.
Meanwhile, some 100 lawsuits have been filed targetting mail-in voting, early voting, voter access, voting machines and voting registration, according to the Associated Press. Republicans are largely behind most of the legal challenges.
In battleground states Arizona and Nevada, two counties are pushing on with plans to hand count ballots.
In Arizona, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors voted on October 24 to approve plans for a hand count audit for all precincts within the county. In Nevada, election officials in rural Nye County started to hand count ballots yesterday. The ACLU of Nevada has filed a lawsuit, challenging the county’s decision.
The Get Out the Vote Rally will be held in Miami on November 6, two days before Election Day. An event notification distributed by the Save America PAC identified Rubio, who is running for re-election in this year’s midterms, as the event’s “special guest.” It also noted that Trump’s endorsement record in Florida so far this election season “is currently undefeated, 19-0.”
The event announcement did not mention Florida’s Republican Governor, Ron DeSantis, who is running for re-election against Democrat Charlie Crist. DeSantis is widely believed to be considering a run for president in 2024, though Trump currently leads among Republicans in most polls as their top pick for their party’s next presidential candidate.
As of Thursday morning, Trump’s Save American PAC had four rallies scheduled in support of Trump-backed candidates before Election Day. The PAC often adds additional candidates and other guest speakers to an event lineup in the days before a rally takes place, but a Trump adviser told Politico that DeSantis will not be at the November 6 rally in Miami.
People with knowledge about DeSantis’ re-election campaign said his advisers were frustrated by the timing of the event and the lack of notice they had before it was announced, Politico reported.
“For months, doomsayers have been arguing that the US economy is in a recession and Congressional Republicans have been rooting for a downturn,” Biden said in a statement Thursday morning. “But today we got further evidence that our economic recovery is continuing to power forward.”
“Our economy has created 10 million jobs, unemployment is at a 50 year low, and U.S. manufacturing is booming. Today’s data shows that in the third quarter, Americans’ incomes were up and price increases in the economy came down.”
The economy continues to be a top issue for voters nationwide. Biden also touted a major dip in gas prices following record-breaking prices this summer. Across the U.S., today’s average gas price is $3.76.
“Now, we need to make more progress on our top economic challenge: bringing down high prices for American families,” Biden said.
“Even with our historic economic recovery, gas prices are falling – down $1.26 since the summer, and down over the last three weeks. The most common price at gas stations in America today is $3.39 a gallon. That is progress, but we need to do more to bring other prices down as well. My Administration has passed laws that will bring down prescription drug prices and health insurance premiums starting next year. We must do more.”
Wednesday, Biden delivered remarks on his administration’s efforts to limit “junk fees,” which the White House says raise consumer costs and “hit the most vulnerable Americans the hardest.”
The bureau’s initial estimate said real GDP grew by an annual rate of 2.6 percent. During the second quarter of 2022, real GDP decreased by 0.6 percent.
The economic growth reported in the third quarter is a result of an uptick in goods and services, including “exports, consumer spending, nonresidential fixed investment, federal government spending, and state and local government spending,” the report said. It added that increase was “partly offset” by investments in homes and private inventories, including a lower amount of retail trade.
The initial estimate is expected to be revised as additional information is assessed. The third quarter GDP estimate will be updated in a second report scheduled for release at the end of November.
